The Story of Zach Thompson
by Ajedi32
Summary: A twoleg, Zach Thompson, owns a construction company that is about to begin construction on some new houses around the lake. He is turned into a cat by starclan, and must go on a quest to stop his company before it destroys the clan's home.
1. Title and Cover Information

**The Story of Zach Thompson**

**

* * *

**

**Description  
**A twoleg, Zach Thompson, owns a construction company that is about to begin construction on some new houses around the lake. He is turned into a cat by StarClan, and must go on a quest to stop his company before it destroys the clan's home.

**Credits  
**Story by Ajedi32 & Fbp  
Written by Ajedi32 & Fbp  
Edited by Ajedi32 & Fbp  
Inspired by the warriors series by Erin Hunter

**Other Information/Announcements  
**Hey everyone, sorry I haven't had much time to work on this lately. So much has been going on recently. Rest assured though that we will finish this fan fiction eventually.

Don't forget to review! Constructive criticism and comments on the plotline are greatly appreciated.


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

A circle of cats filled the clearing, shining brightly as stars. None of them spoke, but sat quietly, eyes closed, as if waiting for something.

Suddenly a voice broke the silence "I have seen what is to come." The speaker, a gray cat with long fur, stepped forward. "Chaos and destruction will overrun the forest if something is not done".

"I have seen it too Yellowfang and I agree;" spoke a dark tortoiseshell "something must be done" Yellowfang acknowledged the tortoiseshell with a small dip of her head.

"Yes." agreed a blue cat with shining blue eyes "But what _can_ be done?"

Yellowfang moved to reveal a large figure lying on the ground a short distance away. "He could help us. All we have to do is turn him int-"

"Oh no;" Bluestar mewed forcefully, interrupting Yellowfang "it's out of the question!"".

"But it might be our only chance!" Yellowfang pointed out

"There's_a reason_ Starclan has never done that!" Bluestar said, snarling.

"Well, it's either that or watch the cats we are supposed to be protecting driven out of their homes again!" Yellowfang hissed angrily.

Just when it looked as if a fight would break out between the two cats Spottedleaf yowled, "Stop! We have more important things to do than fight amongst ourselves!" Bluestar let her neck fur fall flat and stalked off several tail lengths.

"Very well, I'm sure we can find another solution." Yellowfang mewed after a few moments of silence.

"No, you're right." Bluestar mewed, turning to look at Yellowfang "There is no other way."


	3. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Zachary Thompson, at age 21, is the now youngest owner ever of the Thompson Corporation._ As I read the local morning paper I couldn't help feeling a bit excited. I read more. _After the death of Zachary's father, James Thompson, he received ownership of the local family company._

I put the paper down; I was too exited to read any more. I had already arranged to buy 50 acres of land around a small lake; a perfect place for my dream home, and a great place to build some lakeside condos. Oh yeah, that's what my company does, we build condos and houses.

I paid for my coffee, walked out the door, and started my long morning hike to the land I was buying. I was on a short vacation, and it felt great! After my company finished completing the deal to purchase the land around the lake I would build a large, lakeside house for myself before I began construction on the condos. My dad was always a bit strange; even though he was the richest man in town, he still chose to live in a small, old house on Main Street. Luckily, didn't inherit my dad's desire to live like a hobo.

Before I knew it I was standing on the land beside the lake. Off to my left was a small farm. Ahead of me was a grassy land, sloping down to a shining lake. To my right was a thick forest, most of which my company would be purchasing (except the part further from the lake, which was a camp ground). I hiked north until I came across a small pool of water off the side of a stream. I stopped there to eat lunch; a foot long sub sandwich and a big bag of potato chips. Unfortunately I was out of water and after hiking for five hours, I was very thirsty (the potato chips probably didn't help much either). So I decided to fill my canteen with water from the pool. _Its just stream water, it's clean enough._ I sat back and took a long drink of water. "Ahh…" I sighed with satisfaction, "That's good…" Suddenly, I felt very tired. Guessing it was from hiking for so long, I lied back on the soft grassy ground, and fell asleep.

I suddenly sensed a change in my surroundings, something felt different. I slowly opened my eyes. What I saw made me jump to my feet; I was surrounded by twenty or so cats. All of them were glowing and semi-transparent. Several of them stepped towards me.

"Zachary Thompson." a gray cat addressed me. It was then that I realized I was dreaming. I had to be, after all, I had just seen a talking cat!

"Uh… yeah?"

"We're sorry for intruding on your sleep." A dark tortoiseshell cat mewed, stepping closer "But we need your help."

The gray cat continued: "We are the ancestors of four clans of cats that live around the lake. The clans are in danger, and we need your help to save them"

"Ok." I said sarcastically, "So you're a bunch of dead cats that need my help to save a bunch of other cats that live around the lake? Ok sure, I'll buy that."

"This is serious!" the gray cat mewed, sounding annoyed. "If you wish to help the clans, you must live among them, and to do that, you must live as they do, you must become a cat." I stared at the strange talking cats; this was particularly weird, even for a dream. _Was it something I ate? Perhaps it was the stream water._

"Ok, sure." I said shrugging after a moment of silence, not really giving the question much thought. _After all, it's just a dream, even if it is weird._

"Are you sure?" The tortoiseshell cat (Who I still couldn't seem to take seriously since she was a cat!) asked, "This isn't a mission to be taken on lightly."

"Err… yes… yes! Completely, entirely sure without a doubt yes!" _I might as well play along; this could turn out to be an interesting dream after all._

"Ok…" one of the cats (I didn't catch which) murmured after a few moments of silence. "I hope you know what you're getting into."

"Lie down." A blue-gray cat commanded, in a reluctant tone. I lay down on the cold, damp, forest floor. The mass of cats crowded around me. For a few moments complete silence fell. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop five feet away and it would sound like a cannon going off.

Suddenly all the cats touched their noses to me. Ok, now imagine being struck by lightning. Now imagine being struck by lightning while your pants were on fire, after freezing in the Arctic Circle for a few hours. That's pretty close to how it felt the moment they touched me. My veins were on fire, and freezing at the same time. I couldn't move and I felt like I was paralyzed. It felt the strange sensation of shrinking, and I could feel parts of my body taking on unnatural forms. Then, as the sensation faded, before I blacked out, I thought I heard the bluish-gray cat mutter, "We're going to regret this..."


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I woke with a start. _Wow, THAT was a weird dream._ It was already dark out; I must have slept through the afternoon. I glanced down at my watch to check the time and noticed three things. First, my $200 limited edition diver's watch was missing, second, my arm had fur all over it, and third, I had no hands: where they should have been there were paws instead. For a few seconds I almost freaked out. _What in the world is going on?!?_ I tried to stand: but fell over. I noticed that I had a tail that swung into view every few seconds. That's when I realized I must still be dreaming.

I crawled over to a nearby puddle of water and looked at my reflection. _Okay, so I'm a cat. Go figure._ I had to admit I looked pretty cute, even though it was weird that the cat in the reflection mirrored my actions.

My amusement at playing with my reflection in the puddle was interrupted a stiff growl. I turned to see a dark shape stalking slowly towards me. Out of fear I stumbled backwards, away from the mysterious shape. As the creature broke the clearing I instantly recognized what it was. _Fox!_

Even though I had only been a cat for several minutes, I ran like I had been one my whole life: except for the occasional stumble or me tripping over my own legs. I was almost shocked at how fast I could run; unfortunately, the fox could run faster. Suddenly I felt teeth sink into my back leg. Shrieking in pain I fell to the ground. I tried to pull him off me, but he was three times my size.

Just when the fox was about to finish me off I heard a yowl and turned to see five or so cats charging towards me, or the fox, I wasn't sure which. The fox looked up in surprise, only to be clawed in the face by a fiery-orange cat. I decided to use this as a distraction to get as far away from the fox as possible. I tried to run but pain shot through my leg. So, hobbling on three legs I headed towards the cover of some nearby trees.

Before I could get more than 5 feet the fox was on me, tearing his sharp teeth into my side. Several cats jumped on the fox from behind, causing it to fall on me and knock my breath out. I remember lying there, flat as a pancake, wondering when I was going to wake up from this nightmare. After what seemed like ages, but it was probably only a second or so, the fox, having realized it was defeated, got up slowly and limped away into the undergrowth.

"Are you all right?" asked a blaze orange cat, approaching me. I was too tired, and in too much pain to answer so I just closed my eyes. "Somebody get Jayfeather quick!" He commanded, "This cat is seriously wounded!"

I'm sure that more happened while I was lying half-dead on the ground. However, I was too busy passing out to notice. The last thing I remember thinking before I lost consciousness was: _This is a really realistic dream!_

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside. At least, I hope I was actually waking up this time. I opened my eyes to find myself staring at the ceiling of a small cave. _Nope, still dreaming._ I thought to myself. I tried to roll onto my back but pain shot through my side. _If this is still a dream then why does it hurt so much?_

I struggled to sit up and found that I was sitting inside a small cave, lying on a bed of soft moss. To my left was the cave entrance. To my right, was a narrow crevice with a strong smell of herbs flowing out of it. I was somewhat surprised at how well I could smell, but then I remembered that cats have much better noses than humans.

"Good, you're awake" I turned my head to see a gray cat with blue eyes towering over me.

"Who are you?" I asked "And where am I?" The cat hissed: apparently unwilling to answer my questions

"Just eat these: they'll make you feel better." I wasn't about to argue; after all, these cats just saved my life, or at least, they did in the dream anyway. I licked up the bitter seeds he gave me, and lied back down on the moss.

"So Jayfeather, our guest is awake now?" I turned quickly to see the orange cat that had stopped the fox from killing me walk into the den

"Yes" Jayfeather mewed, dipping his head in respect "he's lost lots of blood, but he'll live."

"Good." The orange cat mewed, turning to look at me "I'm Firestar, welcome to Thunderclan."

"Uh, hi I'm Zach." I answered, "Hey, I hope you don't mind me asking but… Where the heck am I?" Firestar looked a bit bewildered at the question, but he answered me calmly. "You're in the medicine cat's den in our camp." I didn't really understand exactly what he was saying, but I nodded anyway.

"So…" Firestar mewed after a few moments "Where are you from?"

"Uh… New York" Firestar nodded, but I could tell he didn't really understand what I was saying

"Are you a kittypet, or a loner?" he asked.

"Uh... kittypet? Loner?" I was really starting to get annoyed at this guy. He looked thoughtfully at me for a moment then asked,

"How did a kittypet like you get all the way out here?" I couldn't take anymore stupid questions from this strange talking cat.

"Uh, thanks for the great dream and all but I really must be going…" I struggled to my feet, er.. paws, and tried to walk out of the cave. Unfortunately I forgot about my injuries; another jolt of pain shot through my leg and I collapsed on the floor. Jayfeather rushed over to me and quickly examined my leg.

"You're not going anywhere just yet." he said. "That fox wounded you pretty badly, you'll probably need a few days to recover before you can leave." I lay back down on the moss, exhausted.

"Well, in that case..." Firestar said after a few moments, "I had better go announce your presence to the rest of the clan."


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the highledge for a clan meeting!" Firestar's voice rang out clearly in the hollow. Cinderheart looked up excitedly from the vole she was eating. _Maybe he'll tell us about the strange cat we found coming back from the gathering. _She quickly finished her meal and padded over to join Poppyfrost and Berrynose beneath the highledge.

"Cats of Thunderclan." Firestar started "As you all may know we found a cat being attacked by a fox last night on our way home from the gathering. He has taken serious wounds, and he will be staying with us for a while as a guest."

The news was met with excited murmuring, most of the clan had already heard about this strange cat who had been found by the gathering patrol, and they were excited to learn that he would be saying in the clan, if only for a short time.

"Are you sure this will only be temporary?" Thornclaw asked, raising his voice above the clamor. "I for one think that we have adopted enough kittypets for a while."

"Didn't you hear Firestar?" Squirrelflight jumped to defend her father "The cat is seriously wounded, we can't send him away now or he'll die!"

"I agree," Put in Brambleclaw, "he must be allowed to stay."

"Yes, prey is plentiful, so we have food to spare." Firestar ventured thoughtfully "He will stay until he is strong enough to leave". Firestar jumped down from the highledge, signaling that the meeting was over. Cinderheart decided to pay their new guest a visit. _After all, he will be staying with us for a while._ Before heading over to the medicine cat's den, she stopped by the fresh-kill pile and picked up a mouse. Then she ran over to join Poppyfrost and Brambleclaw in Jayfeather's den.

"Hi Zach" Brambleclaw mewed friendlily as they walked in to the medicine cat's den. "Welcome to ThunderClan!" Zach was a dark gray tom with shocking brown eyes. His fur was matted down with blood and he had cobwebs stuck all over his hindquarters, and on his side.

"Here" Cinderheart said, dropping the mouse near his bed "This is for you." Zach looked at her like he was disgusted at the idea of eating the mouse.

"I know you're probably not used to eating mice." Poppyfrost mewed, noticing the look on his face. "But try it, it tastes wonderful!"

"Um... I'm not hungry right now." Zach meowed. Cinderheart suspected that he was, but she wasn't going to force him to eat the mouse if he didn't want to. _He'll probably eat later._

"So," She mewed after a short pause "where are you from?"

"Uh.. New York…" Zach mewed, sounding dazed as if other things were on his mind.

"New York?" Brambleclaw asked, sounding confused. "Where's that?"

"Er, a long way away from here" Zach responded after a short moment. He sounded somewhat reluctant to talk to his visitors; Cinderheart guessed that he didn't trust them completely.

Just then, Jayfeather came into the den carrying a fresh bundle of herbs. "I hope you aren't disturbing our guest" he meowed irritably. "He needs his rest."

"Ok, we had better leave Zach to rest." meowed Brambleclaw, turning to leave. Cinderheart mewed good bye and left the mouse sitting next to Zach's nest, figuring that he might try it later if he got hungry enough. As Cinderheart left, she couldn't help thinking that there was something a bit odd about Zach. She didn't know exactly what it was, but there was something about him that felt a bit strange. Figuring that she just wasn't used to dealing with kittypets, she pushed the thought out of her mind and went off to join Brambleclaw who was already off organizing the morning patrols. Just then, Graystripe beckoned Cinderheart from over by the fresh-kill pile. She padded over to him "Yes Graystripe?" she mewed.

"Firestar wants to see you in his den" he replied. Cinderheart dipped her head in acknowledgement and headed over to the tumbled rocks that lead up to the Highledge.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked, walking into Firestar's den.

"Yes, come sit down." Cinderheart padded over to sit beside Firestar. "I wanted to ask you to keep an eye on Zach for me" Firestar mewed. "Show him around once he gets well enough to walk, and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."

"Yes Firestar." Cinderheart replied happily. This might give her a chance to get to know him better; it wasn't very often that Thunderclan had visitors, especially from so far away. Firestar dismissed her and she bounded off to see if Brambleclaw wanted her for a hunting patrol.

----

I watched quietly as the three cats left the cave. Jayfeather picked up his herbs and padded over to the storage area

"You'd better get some rest." he mumbled to me though a mouthful of herbs. I bent down to sniff the mouse that the gray cat had left me. _ Am I really supposed to eat this?_ Even though I knew cats were supposed to eat mice, I really didn't feel like eating some dead animal. But I was really hungry, and I knew I needed to keep my strength up. So, I gritted my teeth and bent down to take a small bite of the mouse. It felt strange to be eating something with fur on it, but surprisingly I didn't recoil at the taste. As a matter of fact, it tasted rather good.

_Why not?_ I thought. _After all, I am a cat._ I hungrily took another bite. As I was eating the mouse, I began to wonder how a dream could feel this real. Then I had the most chilling thought: what if this wasn't a dream after all? I quickly pushed the thought to the back of my mind. This couldn't be real! If it wasn't a dream, I had no idea what it was. I finished the mouse and decided to get some rest; maybe I would finally wake up from this nightmare. I curled up into a ball and went to sleep.

I woke up later in the afternoon feeling much better. Sunlight streamed through the entrance of the cave, and I could hear cats calling to one another outside. I suddenly felt curious to find out what was out there. I slowly got to my, er... paws, and stumbled out of the cave.

What I saw amazed me! There were cats everywhere, more cats than I had ever seen before in one place! They all seemed busy, going about their business. Some were grooming each other; others were eating while sitting near a pile of mice and other animals that had obviously been caught by some of the cats. Just then, the gray tabby who had left me the mouse earlier padded into the clearing carrying a mouse and some other animal I didn't recognize. When she noticed me standing outside the cave she quickly padded over to me.

When she reached me, she set down her catch and meowed "Hi Zach, nice to see you up and about. I'm Cinderheart by the way."

"Hi Cinderheart, nice to meet you." I replied. I was about to reach out and shake her hand before I remembered that I didn't have hands anymore. "Yes, I'm feeling much better now." I meowed instead.

"That's good," she replied. "That fox really gave you some nasty wounds, I didn't think you would be walking around for a while yet."

"Yeah, it's healing pretty quickly." I meowed back. She nodded and after a couple moments she pushed the mouse she had caught towards me and meowed

"Here, you had better eat this. You need to keep your strength up"

"Er, thanks." I meowed back, still not completely used to the idea of eating dead animals. Cinderheart must have noticed my reluctance

"So you've never tasted mouse before huh?" she meowed.

"No," I mewed back, "but it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be." I bent down and took a bite of the mouse. I was again surprised at how good it tasted, normally I would have thrown up if I had tried to eat a mouse, but now it wasn't much worse than having a chicken sandwich. Cinderheart crouched down and took a bite of the other animal she brought; I think it was a vole.

"So," She meowed between mouthfuls, "How did a kittypet like you manage to get all the way out here? It's a long way to the nearest twolegplace."

"I'm sorry, what?" I meowed in reply. _Kittypet? Twolegplace?_ Cinderheart looked up at me in surprise.

"I said how did a kittypet like you get all the way out here?" she repeated.

"A kittypet? What's that?" I asked.

"They're cats that live with the twolegs." She responded. "Twolegs?" I asked. "You're losing me here."

"You know, Housefolk? Upwalkers?" she meowed; looking to see if I understood her. Now I was getting really confused "You know, twolegs! Those big pink creatures without fur that walk on two legs."

"Ahhhh… humans!" I laughed inwardly at the thought of being called a two-leg.

"So," Cinderheart meowed after a moment. "How _did_ you get all the way out here?"

"I walked" I meowed back simply.

"The whole way?" Cinderheart sounded impressed.

"Yeah," I meowed "it wasn't _that_ far." I bent down and took another bite of the mouse.

"So where exactly did you come from?" she asked.

"From the town." I replied. "Just south-east of here." Now it was Cinderheart's turn to be confused.

"Town?" she repeated.

"Uh, twolegplace?" I meowed, hoping that was the right term.

"Oh." Cinderheart mewed, although she still looked a bit confused.

"So this is where you live?" I asked after a moment, gesturing around the clearing.

"Yes," she responded, glancing around the clearing. "I sleep over there, with the rest of the warriors." She pointed with her tail to a large thornbush with several cats sleeping underneath.

"You're a warrior?" I asked in surprise. Cinderheart didn't look like the type who would get into a fight, but now that I thought about it I did notice lean muscles underneath her sleek pelt.

"Yes, of course!" Cinderheart meowed, sounding surprised, "What else would I be?"

"I don't know," I responded, "you just don't seem like the fighting type."

"Warriors don't just fight; we also hunt for the clan." She explained.

"Oh... I see." I responded. That certainly cleared things up a bit. As I finished up my mouse Cinderheart asked,

"Would you like to see the rest of the camp?"

"I'd love to!" I mewed, excited at the thought of getting to explore the clearing. "But I'm getting tired, it's kinda been a long day" I continued, suddenly remembering how tired I was. "I think I'll just turn in for the night." I got up slowly and walked over to the den that I slept in the night before.

"Okay then." Cinderheart mewed after me "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then I can show you around the camp."

"Great!" I meowed back. I was feeling really tired now. "Well goodnight."

"Sleep well." I heard her mew as I crawled into my bed of moss. As I drifted off to sleep, I realized that I had completely forgotten that this was a dream. _I wonder what tomorrow will bring._


	6. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I woke up early the next morning and Cinderheart showed me around the 'camp'. Apparently, there were four 'clans' of cats that all live around this lake and they all have to fight for survival. It didn't sound like a very good way to live, but Cinderheart seemed to actually enjoy it. These clans were made up of warriors, apprentices, queens, and elders, and every clan had a deputy, leader, and medicine cat. All of this information was too much for me to take in all at once, but it did seem to make sense.

Now, as I sat with Cinderheart next to the 'fresh-kill pile' as they called it, my mind was still burning with questions. "So," I meowed "if the leader dies, like in a battle or something, then what happens?"

"Usually he'll just lose a life and come back, " Cinderheart meowed "but if it was his last li-"

"Wait a minute, _lose__ a life_?" I interrupted. _What is this? A video game?_

"Leaders are granted nine lives by Starclan" Cinderheart explained calmly, "if they die, they lose a life and come back."

"Starclan?" I meowed, "which clan is that?" Cinderheart had told me the names of the four clans earlier, now I didn't remember them but I was pretty sure that 'Starclan' wasn't one of them.

"Starclan isn't one of the four clans," Cinderheart mewed, confirming my suspicion "they are the warrior ancestors of all the clans that live around the lake. You can see them in the sky at night in Silverpelt." I stared as Cinderheart, speechless. Everything she had told me up to now was to some degree believable, but this… it was totally ridiculous! Cinderheart looked back at me. She looked as though she was completely serious, so I tried my best to keep from completely cracking up.

"Er, okay." I meowed awkwardly, trying not to sound as though I thought she was making a joke. "So basically you're saying that there are cats in the stars?" I asked, sounding a bit sarcastic. Cinderheart nodded, and I couldn't stay serious anymore. I fell on the ground meowing with laughter.

"Cats in the stars?" I meowed. "That's ridiculous!" Cinderheart looked offended.

"It's not ridiculous!" she meowed indignantly.

"Really?" I meowed in reply "Well how do you know this Starclan is real?"

"Well," Cinderheart meowed "they speak to leaders and medicine cats in dreams… and they grant leaders nine lives."

"Uh, hu." I meowed, still unconvinced. "So if these medicine cats of yours see Starclan in dreams, then what do they look like?" I meowed, hoping for another good laugh.

"Well, they are pretty much like any other cat except they shine like the stars and they… what?" she broke off, noticing the look on my face. Her description of these cats from 'Starclan' had suddenly reminded me of the cats I had seen at the beginning of my dream. Her description matched them almost perfectly. I was too shocked to reply immediately, but Cinderheart was looking at me intently so I mewed

"Uh, nothing." There was no way I was going to tell her that I had seen this 'Starclan', not yet anyway. Cinderheart didn't look convinced, but to my relief she didn't continue questioning me. I took some comfort in reminding myself that this was just a dream, but somehow the thought wasn't as comforting to me now as it would have been only a few days ago.

After a few long moments of awkward silence, Cinderheart meowed "So, how's your leg doing?"

"Good!" I mewed, glad of a chance to change the subject "Jayfeather says I'll be completely healed in a day or so."

"That's great!" Cinderheart replied. "So where will you go after you're better?" She asked me.

"Uh, I don't know" I meowed. For a moment I seriously considered this. Where _would_ I go? I thought about it for a moment before pushing the thought out of my mind. _This is just a dream!_ I thought to myself. I didn't have to think about what would happen next. When I finally woke up I would just get up and walk back home like nothing had ever happened. Wouldn't I?

I finished the rest of the vole I was eating in silence. Cinderheart had left earlier to go hunting. She had asked if I wanted to come with and see the territory, but I was still digesting all the information about the camp, so I had declined. Now, as I walked back to Jayfeather's den to rest, I thought about everything Cinderheart had told me. This Starclan she had told me about sounded absolutely ridiculous, but yet I had seen them myself, so I knew they were real. From what Cinderheart had told me, only the leaders and medicine cats received dreams from Starclan, but they had come to me.

As I thought about what this might mean, I reached the medicine cat's den and Jayfeather came out. Cinderheart had told me that Jayfeather was blind, but he certainly didn't look it as he turned to look at me with his intense blue gaze. "Ah, I see you're finally back." He meowed.

"Uh, yeah..." I replied, still lost in thought.

"Well, I'm going off to collect herbs." he meowed as he walked past me. He turned his head around after a moment to add "Don't get into any trouble."

I walked into the den and lay down. This dream was getting really weird; part of me was starting to wonder if it was really a dream at all. But it had to be! There was no way that this could possibly be real; it went against everything I'd ever thought to be possible. Despite this, I couldn't push away the feeling that this was more than just a dream. As my head spun with this thought, I suddenly felt tired.Hoping to end this crazy nightmare, I curled up into a ball on my bed of moss. But with all of these thoughts spinning in my head I found it hard to sleep. After about an hour of tossing and turning in my bed, I finally fell asleep.

I opened my eyes to see a large field stretching in front of me. I immediately recognized the scene. I was laying in the same position I had been in when this whole cat dream had started! _Its finally over!_ I thought. Then I noticed one thing was different; I was still a cat. _Its not over..._ I almost wanted to cry. I turned my head to see the shining cats of Starclan standing over me. I recognized one of the cats as the blue cat who I had seen at the beginning of my dream. "What do you want?" I groaned. I was really starting to get tired of this crazy dream.

"We just wanted to ask how your first few days in the clan were." the blue cat meowed "Are your wounds healing well?"

"Yes, fine." I meowed irritably.

"There are difficult times ahead" a dark grey cat meowed, "we are counting on you to save the clans from the darkness that is coming."

"Right." I meowed sarcastically.

"This is serious!" the blue cat meowed, sounding irritated. "There are many cats depending on you!"

"No there aren't!" I meowed angrily "This is all just a stupid dream! None of this is real!" I realized that I was saying this more to reassure myself than to convince them.

The blue cat looked at me with a gaze so intense it almost made me flinch, "You thought that this was all a dream?" She meowed seriously.

"Of course!" I meowed. "What else could it be? I mean, I'm talking to a cat!" The blue cat gazed at me silently for a moment before meowing

"Zach, these past few days were not a dream. You really are a cat, and the clans really are in danger. You must save them and fulfill your destiny." I stared at the blue cat in silence, this thought too overwhelming for me to think properly. I wanted desperately for it not to be true, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Finally I managed to squeak out "S-so… Y-You really did turn me into a cat?" The blue cat nodded. "But that's impossible!" I meowed.

"Nothing is impossible" the dark gray cat meowed.

"But, you turned me into a cat!" I meowed, starting to lose my temper

"You agreed to it." the blue cat pointed out.

"I thought you were kidding!!!" I yowled back, my confusion forgotten in my sudden anger at these cats for what they had done to me.

"It's hard to take a talking cat seriously!" I continued "Besides, I thought it was just a dream!" The blue cat shot an angry glance over at the dark grey cat beside her before turning back to me and meowing

"You should take dreams more seriously then. We warned you not to take this lightly."

"Well, I'm serious now, and I don't like it." I meowed back furiously. "Turn me back into a huma— er, twoleg, now!" I yowled.

"I'm sorry." The blue cat meowed sympathetically, "but you must fulfill your destiny…"

At this I exploded in rage. I leapt at the blue cat, hoping to knock some sense into her. But she easily sidestepped me, and knocked me off my paws with a quick swipe to the legs. I was about to leap back up and jump at her again when I noticed that she was beginning to literally fade into the background. As her form faded into the shadows, I heard her mew softly "Go. Go and fulfill your destiny."


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_NO!_ I woke with a start. T_his can't be happening!_ But I knew there was no escape from this newly discovered truth: all of this was real. I slowly got to my paws, and looked around the cave with new eyes. It was still very early in the morning, but I could already hear cats padding around outside. Jayfeather had already left the den, probably to look for herbs, and I was left alone with my thoughts.

I glanced down at my paws, suddenly realizing how strange it felt to be a cat. I hadn't given much thought to it before, but now that I realized that this was not a dream I suddenly felt curious. I held up my paw and tried to slide my claws out, but I couldn't figure out how to use the muscles that controlled my claws. I glanced over at my tail, wondering if I would have just as much trouble discovering how to move it as well, but surprisingly it didn't take me long to find the muscles that worked it. As I experimentally waved my tail around, Jayfeather walked into the cave.

"Ah, you're awake." he remarked, setting down the bundle of herbs he was carrying. He walked over to me and sniffed at my wounds, which were now almost completely healed. "Your leg is looking pretty good," he remarked "you'll probably be able to leave by tomorrow." I felt a bit sad at the idea of leaving ThunderClan, but I knew that I could never stay here. I wondered what I would do when I had to leave. For a moment, I let myself believe that I would just walk back home and try to live a normal life, but I knew that would be impossible. Then I remembered my dream; StarClan had told me that there was some great danger facing the clans, but I had no idea what it was. I didn't have much time to think about it though, because just then Cinderheart walked into the den carrying a squirrel.

"Hi Zach," she meowed cheerfully, dropping the piece of fresh-kill to the ground. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, thank you." I meowed. "Is that for me?" I asked, gesturing at the squirrel she had dropped on the ground.

"Yes, it is." She replied.

"Thanks." I meowed gratefully. I bent down and took a bite of the squirrel. Once again I wondered how something that looked so disgusting could taste so good. I guessed that it was just part of being a cat. As I continued eating the squirrel, Cinderheart padded up beside me and began licking my fur with long, rhythmic strokes. At first I flinched away, I knew that this was how cats were supposed to get clean, but it felt very awkward to have Cinderheart licking my dirty pelt. I decided not to make a big deal out of it. After all, I was eating a dead squirrel.

As I bent down to take another bite, Cinderheart stopped grooming my pelt long enough to meow "So, do you feel up to going hunting now?"

"Definitely!" I meowed, excited at the idea of getting to see more of the territory.

"Is that okay with you Jayfeather?" Cinderheart meowed. Jayfeather looked up from the herbs he was sorting and padded over to examine my leg again.

"I think he'll be fine as long as he doesn't overdo it." he meowed to Cinderheart. "Go easy on your leg, and if it starts hurting again come strait back." he meowed to me.

"Okay, I will." I meowed.

"Are you ready?" Cinderheart asked, getting to her paws. I quickly finished my squirrel and stood up.

"Yup" I meowed. Cinderheart padded out of the cave and made her way towards the tunnel that lead out of the camp. I followed her excitedly, this would be the first time I had been out of camp since the day I became a cat, and I wanted to see more of the forest.

Just as Cinderheart and I were about to walk out through the tunnel, a voice called out from just behind us. "Hey Cinderheart, where are you going?" I turned around to see the speaker, Brambleclaw, padding over to us.

Cinderheart dipped her head to the clan deputy and meowed "I was just taking Zach out hunting"

Brambleclaw frowned, "well you had better take another warrior with you" he meowed. "That fox might still be around and you don't want to be caught alone."

"Okay" Cinderheart meowed. She glanced around the clearing and then called out to Birchfall, who was sitting next to the fresh-kill pile with two other cats I didn't recognize. "Hey Birchfall, do you want to come hunting with us?"

"Sure" he meowed. Birchfall got up and padded over to join Cinderheart and me near the fern tunnel. Cinderheart lead the way out through the tunnel, and I followed closely behind. I stepped out into the woods and looked around. The forest stretched around me; it seemed much larger to me now that I was a cat, and even though the forest wasn't really all that big, I felt completely lost.

"Where are we going?" I asked Cinderheart.

"I thought we'd head up towards the WindClan border," she replied "we haven't hunted there in a while and I want to make sure that that fox is gone." I wasn't really sure where the WindClan border was, but I nodded anyway. At that, Cinderheart set off into the woods. She set a brisk pace, weaving silently through the undergrowth. Birchfall followed closely behind her, but even though my wounds were now almost fully healed, I struggled to keep up. Cinderheart noticed me lagging behind and slowed down a bit, but I still found it difficult to move quickly through the dense forest. Once or twice I almost tripped over my own paws, which reminded me that I still wasn't fully used to being in a cat's body. Finally, Cinderheart slowed to a stop near a small clump of trees. I stopped beside her, breathing heavily. She and Birchfall crouched in the undergrowth, and Cinderheart gestured with her tail for me to do the same.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A mouse." Birchfall meowed softly. "Can't you smell it?" I took a deep breath of air, and realized that I could, in fact, smell mouse; I recognized the scent from the mice Cinderheart had brought me back in camp. I was once again surprised at how strong my sense of smell was; I knew that cats had an excellent sense of smell, but knowing and experiencing are completely different things. I watched quitetly as Cinderheart began creeping up on the mouse. She stalked it silently, not making a sound. Then she pounced, landing squarely on the mouse and killing it with a swift bite to the neck.

"Good catch." Birchfall meowed. Cinderheart dug a hole in the fallen leaves on the ground and buried the mouse.

"Aren't you going to eat it?" I asked, wondering why she would bury a perfectly good mouse.

"What? Now?" She meowed, sounding confused.

"No but… why are you burying it?"

"Oh," Cinderheart meowed, her confusion gone. "we bury the prey so that other animals won't find it while we are out hunting for more. We'll come back later and dig it up."

"Oh, ok. That makes sense."

We walked through the forest a while longer, and it wasn't long before I heard a small rustling sound in the undergrowth. I took in a long breath of air, pleased that I was able to recognize the scent of another mouse. We waited in silence for a moment, and I saw the mouse scurry out from under the bushes. I looked over at Cinderheart, waiting for her to make a move, but she just looked at me and nodded for me to try. I was about to protest that I had no idea how to catch a mouse, but I didn't want to scare it off. So I crouched on the ground and tried to copy what I had seen Cinderheart do earlier. I crept up silently on the mouse, stalking it through the undergrowth. Then, I gathered my strength and pounced. I thought for sure that I had it, but unfortunately I snagged my paw on a branch and fell hard on the ground. The mouse obviously noticed this and darted off into the woods. Hissing with frustration, I got to my feet and charged after it. I was gaining on it and I was just about to pounce when I tripped over my paws. I fell face down in the dirt, angry at myself for not being more careful. I looked up to see Cinderheart and Birchfall standing over me. I ducked my head, embarrassed that I had messed up so horribly in front of them.

"Well that went well." I meowed sarcastically. Birchfall snickered, but Cinderheart looked at me sympathetically.

"You would have had it if it wasn't for that branch." She said. "You did very well considering that was your first try."

"Sure, thanks." I meowed, still not convinced. I got to my feet and tried to wipe the dirt off my face. Just then I smelled something strange.

"What's that smell?" I asked, hoping that it wasn't a fox.

"That's WindClan's scent markers," Cinderheart meowed. "The border is just across that stream." She pointed with her tail to a long stream flowing swiftly down towards the lake. I thought the stream looked a bit familiar, and then I realized that this was the same stream I had jumped across when I was running from the fox on the night I was turned into a cat.

"This is close to where we found you the night of the gathering," Cinderheart meowed, confirming my suspicions "I think we should check to see if that fox has been around here recently." I shuddered at the idea of meeting the fox again. Foxes are bad enough when you're a human, but when they are bigger than you they are absolutely terrifying. Cinderheart and Birchfall didn't look frightened; they probably had a lot more experience with foxes than I did. Birchfall sniffed the air, checking for fresh fox scent, but thankfully he didn't find any.

"There's some fox scent here, but it's stale." He reported, "The fox probably hasn't been around since we chased it off the night of the gathering." I was relieved to hear that the fox hadn't been here recently, but I still shivered at the idea of facing it again. I was relieved when Cinderheart decided that we should head back to camp. We padded back through the forest in silence; stopping on the way to pick up the mouse Cinderheart had caught earlier. Birchfall caught a squirrel on the way back, but otherwise the trip was rather uneventful.

As I neared the entrance to the camp, I realized that this could be the last day I would spend with ThunderClan. I pushed my way through the fern tunnel and resolved that if this was to be my last day in ThunderClan that I would make it count for something.

Cinderheart and Birchfall deposited the prey they had caught on the fresh-kill pile and I took a piece for myself. Brambleclaw sent Cinderheart on a border patrol, and I was left alone with my thoughts.

As I ate my meal in silence, I began wondering once again what I would do tomorrow when I had to leave. I told myself not to think about it, deciding that I would deal with that when I had to. I spent the rest of the day roaming the camp, relishing the time that I had left in ThunderClan. Towards the evening, I found myself sitting next to the elder's den, thinking about where I would go when I had to leave. I had tried to put the thought out of my mind up to now, but I couldn't put off the decision any longer. Tomorrow morning I would have to leave ThunderClan, and I had absolutely no clue where I would go. I thought about what it would be like to have to live as a cat the rest of my life. _I can't even catch a mouse,_ I thought _there's no way I can survive out in the wild._ With this in mind, I thought about finding a human to take me in. I didn't want to live the rest of my life as a house cat, but it would be better than starving to death.

Then I realized I was being ridiculous, StarClan had turned me into a cat for a reason, perhaps they would change me back when I fulfilled my destiny, or something. I strained my mind to remember what it was that they said I was supposed to do. I thought it was something about saving the clans from a terrible evil, but the clans didn't appear to be in any danger, and even if they were what could I do about it?

My thoughts were interrupted by two bundles of fur shooting past my nose. It took a moment to realize what they were: kittens. They bounded into the elder's den, "Please tell us a story!" one of them asked.

"Yeah!" The other one added, "Mother promised us that if we were reeeeeaaal good you would!"

"Well young'ns let me see here." said an old tom I recognized as Purdy "Did I ever tell you about the time I fought off an entire den of foxes! There were four- maybe five of em'. And-"

"No, no!" one of the kittens interrupted. "We heard that one loads of times. Tell us about the old forest… and the great journey!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" the other kitten squealed, bouncing up and down with excitement. "Tell us please!"

"Oh all right." meowed another of the elders, whom I recognized as Longtail. I listened quietly as he began telling the kittens a story. "It all started a long time ago," he started, "before you were born. All was well in the forest, until one day a cat from each clan was sent on a journey by Starclan to find Midnight. They didn't know it at the time, but Midnight was actually a badger who was friendly to cats and could speak cat. Anyway, when the cats who went on the journey finally found Midnight, she told them that the forest was being destroyed and that the clans would have to find a new home if they were to survive. The cats on the journey came home as quick as they could to warn the clans, but when they got back the forest was already under attack by twolegs and their huge monsters. The cats went back to their clans and convinced their leaders that they would have to leave the old forest. Then the journey began..." Longtail paused for dramatic effect until the kits were squirming with excitement. "The journey to the lake was very tough. We had to travel though fields, over mountains, and though heavy woodland. It took days and days of travel until we came across the new forest; thank StarClan. And now we've got it just as good as when we lived in the old forest."

"Wow, that was a great story!" one of the kits squealed.

"What was the old forest like?" the other one asked at the same time.

"Well," Longtail said, pausing to think for a moment "it was a lot like here. Except there wasn't a lake, and-"

"Was it scary when the forest was destroyed?" one of the kits interrupted.

"Yes, very!" Longtail replied, shuddering as he recalled the scene. "There were trees falling all around, and the constant roar of monsters."

"Wi-ill the monsters come here?" one of the kits asked in terror. Longtail frowned; he clearly didn't like upsetting the kits.

"No. Starclan made sure we were safe when we came here. They'll do anything they can to make sure the forest won't be destroyed again. So don't worry."

_Interesting story_, I thought. I was about to go back to contemplating my problem when all of a sudden it clicked. I suddenly realized what the danger was that StarClan had warned me about: my company was about to purchase the lake territories, and within a week or two they would start turning ThunderClan territory into a new line of lakeside condos. It was then that I totally freaked. "Oh my gosh!" The words escaped from my mouth. I'm pretty sure some cats stared at me as I yowled this unheard of phrase in the camp, but I was too busy freaking out to notice. I screamed (if that's even possible for a cat) and ran up to the highledge faster than I probably ever had as a cat. _I need to warn Firestar!_


	8. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

I'd like to say I ran gracefully up to Firestar's den. But, of course, I didn't. Instead I stumbled clumsily up to the Highledge like the first time I'd ever tried to walk as a cat. After about a minute of tripping over myself I finally reached the top. And as my luck would have it, Firestar was out on a patrol.

_Arggggg!_ It took all my willpower, and what was left of my sanity, to keep myself from trying to leap all the way down from the Highledge to the ground. I held myself back until it was a safe distance to jump, but it was probably still too high because my breath was knocked out of me as I landed clumsily on the ground. I lied there for a moment, catching my breath when Firestar walked in through the camp entrance, accompanied by Brambleclaw and Cinderheart. I ran over to them as fact as my legs would carry me.

"Firestar." I said, panting "You gotta' do something!"

"Woah! Hold on a moment; what's going on?" he meowed. By this point the entire clan was gathering around us. "The forest is in danger! The huma—Twolegs are coming!" I said, my words running together slightly. "They're gonna' tear down all of your territory!"

"Really?" Firestar answered calmly, although I could see that he was fighting an urgency in his mind "How do you know this? We haven't had any problems with Twolegs since we moved to the lake territories. Are you sure this isn't just a misunderstanding?"

"It's not a misunderstanding!" I meowed. "StarClan told me! They weren't sure why! But I do! It all makes sense now!"

"Wait a moment. I don't really get what you're saying, but if there was any real danger don't you think StarClan would have told Jayfeather or Firestar?" Cinderheart asked.

"They told me because they had no clue what was going on and they needed a twoleg to explain!" They all looked at me like a big hairy caterpillar was crawling across my face. "I was a Twoleg!" I yowled, "They turned me into a cat, and I didn't know why! This is why! To warn you all!"

"Uh," Brambleclaw started, "maybe you should go see Jayfeath--"

"NO! I'm feeling ok! But you NEED to do something!" I yowled. By this point I was almost in hysteria. I'm not completely sure what happened after that because of my adrenaline rush, and because I was screaming at the top of my lungs, but I felt myself being dragged over to the medicine cat's den. Jayfeather fed me something bitter, and suddenly I felt very drowsy. I collapsed on the floor and the darkness engulfed me.

Cinderheart watched in disbelief as Brambleclaw grabbed Zach, who was babbling something about the forest being 'subdivided', and dragged him into Jayfeather's den. She had known Zach for several days now, and he didn't seem like the type who would just suddenly go insane. She waited outside the den until Zach's yowling stopped and Brambleclaw came out.

"Jayfeather's given him some poppy seeds to make him sleep." he reported. "Do you have any idea what all that was about?" He asked.

"No." Cinderheart replied, still bewildered at Zach's sudden panic. Brambleclaw muttered something about crazy kittypets and padded off to talk to Firestar. Cinderheart wasn't sure what to do, so she padded over to the fresh-kill pile next to Berrynose and Foxleap and picked up a vole. She glanced down at her meal, not feeling very hungry, but she forced herself to take a couple of bites.

"So, what do you make of that?" Foxleap meowed.

"I think he's got bees in his brain!" Berrynose laughed. "Did you hear him say he was a twoleg? He must have been out in the sun too long."

"Maybe," Foxleap replied "but it still seems a little strange for him to suddenly lose his fur like that."

"He probably just got into Jayfeather's catmint or something." Berrynose meowed.

"I don't think so," Cinderheart mewed "Jayfeather would have noticed, and Zach seemed fine until just before I got back from patrol."

"Don't worry about it." Foxleap said, getting to his feet. "He'll come to his senses eventually. There has to be some logical explanation." He said this with confidence, but Cinderheart wasn't so sure. Just then, Brambleclaw turned from his conversation with Firestar and padded over to the fresh-kill pile.

"Cinderheart, Firestar wants to see you in his den." he meowed.

"Okay, I'll be right there." Cinderheart replied, still lost in thought. She finished her meal and padded quickly up to Firestar's den on the Highledge. She stepped into the den and found Firestar, Brambleclaw, Graystripe, and Jayfeather waiting for her.

"Great, now we can start." Brambleclaw meowed. Firestar waited patiently until Cinderheart had sat down, and then he began.

"I'm sure you're all aware of what happened with our guest Zach." He started. "Do any of you know what could have caused him to do that?" Firestar waited, and when nobody spoke he looked at Cinderheart.

"I don't know," she meowed "he didn't show any signs of it when he was with me." Firestar nodded and then turned to Jayfeather.

"Is it possible his mind could have been affected by his injuries?" he asked.

"I don't think so." Jayfeather answered. "Like Cinderheart said, he didn't show any signs of it earlier, and I don't think any kind of injuries could make him do something like that."

"Where was Zach when he started babbling like that?" Firestar asked, after a thoughtful moment.

"Over by the elder's den." Brambleclaw meowed "I saw him over there listening to them telling the kits a story."

"I'll talk to the elders later to see if they know anything." Graystripe volunteered. "Good," Firestar meowed "in the mean time tell the patrols to keep a lookout for anything unusual. I don't know exactly what Zach was babbling about, but it can't hurt to be careful."

Brambleclaw nodded, and Firestar dismissed everyone. As Cinderheart made her way down the Highledge and sat down in the clearing. Brambleclaw walked up to her and said

"You should get some rest. You have night watch tonight remember?" Cinderheart nodded and padded wearily into the warriors den. She collapsed on her bed of moss and fell asleep in exhaustion.

Cinderheart opened her eyes to find herself in the sparkling forests of StarClan's hunting grounds. She blinked her eyes in surprise. She recognized the forest from the time she had spent as ThuderClan's medicine cat Cinderpelt, but StarClan hadn't visited her since then. Cinderheart wondered what could be so important that they would come to her now. She recalled the incident with Zach, and wondered if it had anything to do with StarClan's sudden visit. Her thoughts were interrupted when the undergrowth shivered and Bluestar padded into the clearing accompanied by Yellowfang and Spottedleaf.

"Bluestar." Cinderheart meowed respectfully. "Why did you bring me here?" She hesitated a moment and then asked "Is this about Zach?" Bluestar nodded.

"He isn't as crazy as you think."

"What to you mean?" Cinderheart asked. Bluestar hesitated a moment, and Yellowfang spoke.

"Zach isn't crazy, he was telling the truth."

"What?" Cinderheart gasped. "You mean the forest really is in danger?" Bluestar nodded seriously. Then Cinderheart had an even more troubling thought, the forest's imminent destruction wasn't the only thing Zach had revealed in his rant. "And… Zach really was a twoleg? You… you turned him into a cat?"

"Yes." Spottedleaf spoke "we needed him to discover the danger to the clans and stop the forest from being destroyed."

"Yes, but… you turned a twoleg into a cat?" Cinderheart repeated in disbelief.

"It was the only way." Bluestar meowed. "Only a twoleg would know what to do to prevent the destruction of the forest." Cinderheart's mind raced. If everything Zach had said was true like StarClan said, the forest was now in grave danger of being destroyed by twolegs. Cinderheart knew that StarClan wouldn't want the lake territories to be destroyed as the old forest was, but turning Zach into a cat just seemed a bit extreme.

"Cinderheart," Spottedleaf meowed gently "we think that Zach is going to go on a journey soon to try to save the forest. We want you to go with him."

"Me?" Cinderheart meowed, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "I can't go running off with Zach to who knows where! I have responsibilities in ThunderClan. Besides, there's no way Firestar will let me go."

"Leave Firestar to us." Yellowfang meowed .

"You know Zach can't do this alone." Bluestar added. Cinderheart hesitated a moment and then nodded.

"I'll go."

"Thank you." Yellowfang meowed. "The clans are in your debt."

Bluestar and Spottedleaf nodded at Cinderheart and the three StarClan cats turned and ran off into the undergrowth. Then, the very forest around Cinderheart dissolved like mist and she was enveloped by darkness.

Cinderheart awoke to Brambleclaw's soft meow.

"Cinderheart" he whispered, "It's your turn on the night watch." Cinderheart moaned softly and got to her feet. She shook herself lightly and padded out of the den. As she took her post on the night watch, she briefly recalled a vague memory of a dream she had while she was sleeping. She couldn't remember it clearly now, but she thought there was something about the dream that was special, different from her other dreams. She struggled briefly to recall it but couldn't, so she put the dream out of her head and gazed up at the sky. The brilliant stars of Silverpelt shined down on her.

Just then, the snap of a twig jerked her back into reality. Cinderheart looked quickly around, all her senses alert for any sign of intruders in the camp. Then the snapping sound came again. She pinpointed its source and saw Zach creeping rather clumsily out of Jayfeather's den. He began creeping towards the fern tunnel, not noticing Cinderheart. She was about to call out to him, but something inside, a feeling, stopped her. So instead, she slunk backwards into the shadows and watched Zach as he looked consciously around before turning and disappearing into the fern tunnel. Cinderheart waited a few moments before following. She crawled through the fern tunnel out into the forest and waited another moment before following Zach's scent trail through the woods. She followed the trail slowly, taking her time and being careful not to catch up to Zach. She noticed that he didn't appear to be trying to hide his scent trail, but then realized that he probably didn't know enough about scents to realize he was even leaving one. She followed his trail for a while longer before she noticed something. Zach was following the same path that Cinderheart had taken when she took him hunting. _What is he up to?_

I ran silently through the forest, desperately retracing my steps from my journey earlier in the day. I had to talk to StarClan, and the only way I knew how was to get to the pool where I had first seen them. Cinderheart had told me that it was called the Moonpool and that medicine cats went there every half-moon to share dreams with StarClan, and that was exactly what I needed to do right now. As I ran through the forest with the wind ruffling my fur, I couldn't help feeling a bit pleased with myself. I had just snuck out of ThunderClan camp, and no one had even noticed me leave.

As I neared the edge of ThunderClan territory I was forced to slow down, which reminded me that although my wounds were now healed, I still didn't have full strength in my leg. I took this as an opportunity to think about where the Moonpool actually was. _I just have to follow the river._ I reminded myself. I crossed the stream at the stepping-stones, somehow managing not to fall in and before long I was at the Moonpool. I sat there a moment, wondering how I was supposed to talk to StarClan. _The water!_ I thought, remembering that I had taken a drink of water from the stream before I first met StarClan. I tentatively crouched down by the pool and took a short lap of the water. It tasted surprisingly cold for mid spring, like water fresh from the mountains. As I swallowed I felt a heavy sheet of darkness envelop me, and I fell asleep unnaturally fast. When I awoke, I found myself lying in a meadow that looked like it was made out of millions of lights. I blinked, and suddenly there were three shining cats standing before me. I recognized them as the same three cats I had seen in all my previous dreams. For a moment I wondered if these were the only cats in StarClan, but I knew that could not be true. After all, StarClan was supposed to be _all_ the ancestors from the clans.

"Greetings." One of them meowed, "What brings you to StarClan's hunting grounds?"

"The forest is going to be destroyed!" I blurted out, not wanting to waste time with pleasantries.

"We know." the blue cat meowed, not sounding surprised.

"Well, aren't you going to do something about it?" I snapped impatiently.

"We already did." the cat replied calmly, "We brought you."

"Me?" I mowed in surprise. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You're the twoleg." the gray cat meowed, "We were hoping you would know." I paused a moment, my mind whirling. The cat was right, _I_ was the human, I should know what to do. Besides, I owned company that would be destroying the forest; I should have no trouble stopping it.

"Ok, I think I have a plan." I meowed. "You turn me back into a human, and I'll go find the company that wants to build by the lake here and get them to stop."

The three cats looked at my silently for a long moment. "We cannot return you to your twoleg form." The blue cat meowed at last.

"You can't? Why not?" I asked in astonishment.

"Even StarClan is not all-powerful" the blue cat sighed, "turning a cat into a twoleg is no easy task."

"But, you have to do something!" I meowed desperately. "I can't just walk in there as a cat and tell them to stop."

"You will find a way." The tortoiseshell cat meowed gently. Just then, I heard a faint rustling in the forest behind me.

"You must go now." The blue cat meowed urgently. She paused a moment before adding. "Good luck." Then, the field around me dissolved like mist and I was plunged into darkness.

I opened my eyes to find myself lying next to the Moonpool. I got to my feet and began slowly making my way out into the forest. As I made my way downstream, I thought about what StarClan had told me. _You will find a way._ the tortoiseshell cat's meow still rang in my ears. But what could I do? I didn't think I could speak English now that I was a cat, and even if I could no one would listen to me; they'd probably just haul me off to some animal language research center or something. No, I would have to find some other way of stopping the forest's destruction. I eventually decided that I would have to get to twolegplace first, and then figure it out from there. I always had been good at improvising. Just then, I heard something rustling in the leaves in front of me. I paused, wondering if someone had seen me leave the camp after all.

"Is anybody there?" I called softly. Nobody answered, so I sniffed the air, hoping that my sensitive cat nose would be able to pick up a scent. For a moment, I smelled nothing. Then the breeze shifted, and I was hit by a sour stench that I recognized immediately.

_Fox!_

I stiffened as the fowl smell of fox hit my nostrils. I had been mauled by a fox once before, and the thought of getting ripped apart by one again wasn't very pleasant. I struggled urgently to get my bearings. [i]M_aybe I can out run it._[/i] I thought. But I was still tired from the journey to the Moonpool, so it wasn't likely that my strength would hold. Instead, I slowly backed away, hoping that the fox wouldn't notice me. But it was too late, the fox had already caught my scent. The branches parted to reveal a young fox prowling through the undergrowth. I didn't know if it was the same fox I had met earlier, but looking at it still sent cold shivers up my spine. The fox growled at me and began circling. My fur bristled and I unsheathed my claws, which seemed surprisingly natural now that I was scared out of my fur, but I knew I couldn't possibly take on a fox and win. As it bunched itself to leap at me, I heard another sound coming from the bushes. [i]_Not another Fox!_[/i] I thought in despair.Thankfully, what emerged from the bushes was not a fox, but rather the best thing I'd seen all day. [i]_Cinderheart!_[/i]

The gray tabby burst out of the brush and threw herself at the fox, which yelped in surprise as she clawed it in the face. The fox swiped a paw at her and knocked her backwards into the bracken, but she bounced back up like a rubber ball. The fox was more cautious now, as though it didn't like the idea of taking on two adversaries at once, but it still growled menacingly at Cinderheart as she advanced. Cinderheart hissed and leaped at the fox, but this time it was expecting her. It knocked Cinderheart out of the air with a heavy paw, and she landed heavy on the ground. It was then that I realized that I was just standing there with my mouth open while Cinderheart battled the fox. I snapped myself out of it, and leaped at the fox. I tore at its side with my claws, but the fox knocked me to the ground with a heavy blow to my head. It bared its teeth at me and it was about to give me a really nasty bite when Cinderheart leaped at it from behind. The fox yipped in surprise as she landed squarely on its back. It tried to shake her off, but Cinderheart dug her claws in and held on tight. The fox was beginning to tire, and Cinderheart jumped off of its back to deal a sharp blow to its hind legs. The fox howled in pain and backed slowly into the woods. Then it turned and ran off towards the WindClan border.

Cinderheart watched as the fox turned and ran off into the woods. She paused a moment, and then turned angrily to Zach, who looked quite pleased with himself as he watched the fox's retreat. He turned to look at Cinderheart, and his smile quickly faded when he saw her angry expression.

"What?" he meowed innocently.

"What?!?" Cinderheart shot back angrily, "I'll tell you what! First you start meowing about the forest being destroyed, then you sneak out of camp in the middle of the night, and now you manage to get yourself attacked by a fox?"

"I can't help that I happened to run into a fox!" Zach retorted.

"But you ran off in the middle of the night!" Cinderheart yowled. "Zach, what's going on?" Zach hesitated a moment before replying cautiously

"I already told you. The forest is in danger of being destroyed by twolegs. StarClan sent me to warn you, but they can't do anything to stop it." Zach paused a moment before adding "I think I'll have to go to twolegplace and sort this out."

"You can't do that." Cinderheart meowed. "You wouldn't last three days on your own, what just happened proves that more than anything." Zach hesitated a moment.

"You're right." He meowed at last. Cinderheart breathed a sigh of relief; maybe Zach wasn't as crazy as she had thought. "I can't do this alone." Zach continued, "Cinderheart, will you come with me?"

"[i]_Me?_[/i]" Cinderheart meowed, her relief suddenly replaced with shock and disbelief at what Zach was asking her to do.

"Yes, you." Zach replied, "I'll never make it to twolegplace without help, and you're just the perso- er, cat I want to come with me." Cinderheart stared at Zach for a long moment. She really did want to help him, and if what he said was true Zach would need all the help he could get. But as much as Cinderheart may have wanted to, she still couldn't completely trust Zach. Just yesterday he had gone crazy, even to the extent of claiming that he was a twoleg, and now he was saying that he had received messages from StarClan and asking her to go with him on a journey to who-knows-where?

"You're crazy." Cinderheart meowed at last, "Let's get back to camp."

"Cinderheart," Zach pleaded. "I can't do this alone! I need you!" Cinderheart turned her head to refuse Zach again, but something stopped her. She couldn't put her paw on it, but it was almost as if a voice in her head had told her to go with Zach. Cinderheart struggled with herself for a moment before finally giving in.

"Alright," she sighed. "but we had better wait until morning before we head out. I'm tired, and WindClan won't like it if we go tromping through their territory in the middle of the night." Zach reluctantly agreed to this, and the two cats made their way quietly back to ThunderClan camp. When they arrived, everyone was still sleeping. Cinderheart took her post back on the night watch and Zach slipped quietly into the medicine cat's den. Cinderheart looked up at the sky and prayed to StarClan that she was doing the right thing.


	9. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

I awoke the next morning with a start. Dark dreams had disturbed my sleep all night, and I didn't feel very rested. I briefly recalled my journey to the Moonpool the night before. Cinderheart had agreed to go with me to twolegplace to help me stop the forest's destruction, now I just had to figure out an excuse to leave camp. I hoped that Cinderheart hadn't changed her mind and decided not to go with me after all, but I didn't think Cinderheart was the type who would go back on her word. Just then, Jayfeather padded into the den.

"Ah, I see you're finally awake" he remarked. I just nodded absently in response; I was too deep in my thoughts to pay much attention. "How are you feeling?" Jayfeather asked, snapping me out of my daze.

"Uh, fine." I responded.

"Well, you didn't seem fine yesterday." He commented. Realizing that Jayfeather would never let me out of camp if he thought I was crazy, I grappled for an excuse for my behavior the day before. All that came out was: "Uh… I didn't?" Jayfeather looked up at me in surprise.

"No, you didn't." He replied, "You started babbling something about the forest being destroyed by twolegs. Don't you remember?"

"Uh… No, I don't." I responded, still not sure where I was trying to go with this conversation. Jayfeather looked at me curiously with his intense blue eyes.

"I see." He meowed.

"Uh, can I go hunting with Cinderheart?" I meowed after an awkward moment of silence. "I- I need to do something to clear my mind."

"Alright, but you had better ask Firestar first." Jayfeather replied after a moment.

"Okay," I meowed "I'll do that." I turned and padded quickly out of the den. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something about Jayfeather that creeped me out. Maybe it was the way he seemed to know where everything was even though he couldn't see it, or perhaps it was the way he looked at me with his piercing blue eyes, but there was definitely something different about him. I pushed the thought out of my head; Jayfeather didn't matter now. I had to concentrate on getting out of camp. I scanned the clearing for Cinderheart, and found her sitting alone near the fresh kill pile. As I padded over to her, I noticed several cats in the clearing giving me strange looks. I hoped that the scene I made yesterday wouldn't stop Firestar from letting me out of camp; I would hate to have to sneak out in the middle of the night again. I approached the fresh-kill pile, and Cinderheart looked up from the piece of prey she was eating. "Are you ready?" I asked her.

"Are you sure you still want to do this?" She asked uneasily.

"Of course!" I meowed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Never mind." she sighed. "So how are you planning to get out?"

"I just asked Jayfeather if I could leave camp to go hunting with you. It was okay with him, but he said we'll have to ask Firestar first." I replied.

"All right, I suppose we'd better go ask him then." Cinderheart sighed reluctantly. She quickly finished the squirrel she was eating and padded up the highledge to Firestar's den, I followed anxiously behind. This would probably be our only chance to get out of camp without having to sneak out, and I didn't want to waste time waiting for an opportunity to get away. I couldn't remember when my company was scheduled to begin building on the lake, but I knew there was certainly no time to waste.

As approached Firestar's den, Cinderheart let out a soft meow to let Firestar know we were there.

"Come in." came Firestar's meow from inside the cave. Cinderheart padded into the den; I followed closely behind. "Zach, Cinderheart." Firestar greeted us "How can I help you?"

"Zach's feeling better, and he wants to go hunting with me." Cinderheart explained. "Jayfeather said it was okay with him, but he wanted us to ask you first." Firestar looked at Zach seriously for a moment before replying.

"Very well, you may go." he meowed suddenly. I blinked in surprise; I hadn't expected Firestar to agree so easily, but I supposed it was better than the alternative. Cinderheart looked equally surprised.

"Thank you Firestar." She meowed, dipping her head respectfully. Firestar dismissed us, and as we padded out the entrance to the cave he called softly after us

"May StarClan light your path."

I padded out of Firestar's den with Cinderheart, and we began making our way down the Highledge. As we neared the entrance to camp, I noticed Cinderheart looked troubled. "What is it?" I asked. Cinderheart glanced back up at the Highledge a moment before answering.

"Nothing," she mowed, turning back to the tunnel "let's go." Cinderheart disappeared through the fern tunnel, and I glanced back to see Firestar watching us from the highledge before turning and following her out into the forest. I emerged from the fern tunnel and padded up beside Cinderheart as she set out into the woods. We padded along quietly, until finally Cinderheart broke the silence. "Zach, how do you know the forest is in danger?" I paused a moment, considering my answer.

"Well," I replied carefully "I've lived with twolegs for my whole life up to now, and I know a lot more about them than you do. I saw a few things before I left twolegplace that made me believe that the forest here was going to be destroyed, and when I heard one of your elders talking about the old forest, I realized that your home was in danger." This answer seemed to satisfy Cinderheart, and we continued walking. About halfway to the WindClan border, I scented a ThunderClan patrol. For a moment I was afraid we would be discovered, but then I reminded myself that Cinderheart and I were just out hunting. There was no reason for anyone to stop us… yet.

"Zach, Cinderheart." One of the cats from the patrol called out as he padded into view. "What are you doing out here?"

"Hi Thornclaw," Cinderheart meowed. "Zach and me are just going hunting."

"Okay." Thornclaw replied "Be careful though, our patrol found a bit of fox scent over by the WindClan border."

"We will." I meowed, turning away. Cinderheart and I continued walking for a while, until Cinderheart suggested that we stop to hunt.

"We won't be able to hunt when we're in WindClan territory," she reasoned "we should get some food while we still can."

"All right." I sighed reluctantly, "But I can't hunt, remember?"

"Yes you can," Cinderheart replied "you just need practice.

"Okay, I'll try." I meowed. With that, Cinderheart turned and padded off into the undergrowth. I followed closely behind. We walked off several paces into the forest, then Cinderheart stopped and turned to me.

"Okay, what can you smell?" She asked. I lifted my nose to the breeze and took a long whiff of air. Once again, I was amazed at how much I could smell. All of the scents of the forest nearly overwhelmed me, but after a moment of concentration I was able to pick out the individual scents.

"Squirrel…" I meowed after a moment "mouse… and just trace of fox."

"Good." Cinderheart replied "I think the mouse is close by, let's see if we can catch it." Cinderheart stalked off through the brush, keeping her body low to the ground. I tried to copy her movements, but it wasn't as easy as she made it look. It wasn't long before the mouse came into view. "There it is." Cinderheart mewed softly. "A mouse will feel your paw steps through the ground before it sees you, so you have to keep your weight on your haunches when you're stalking it." I was a bit surprised at this; I didn't think that mice were that sensitive. But Cinderheart probably knew more about mice than I did, so I just nodded. "Watch." Cinderheart mewed. She began creeping towards the mouse, gliding silently through the undergrowth, almost as if her paws weren't even touching the ground. Then she pounced, catching the mouse squarely between her paws. She gave it a sharp bite to the neck, and stood up with her catch dangling from her jaws.

"Wow!" I meowed, "That was amazing!"

"Shh, keep it down." Cinderheart mewed. "You'll scare off all the other prey."

"Oh, sorry." I answered, lowering my voice "That was really great though."

"Thanks." Cinderheart meowed "Let's go find another mouse." Cinderheart buried her catch and we set out again. It wasn't long before we came across another mouse, nibbling at some seeds. I looked at Cinderheart, and she nodded for me to try. I began slowly creeping towards the mouse, trying to copy the move Cinderheart had shown me.

"Keep your tail down!" She hissed softly. I looked behind me in surprise, I had completely forgotten that I even had a tail. I guessed that begin a cat was still going to take some getting used to. I lowered my tail, and continued creeping towards the mouse. I was careful to keep my weight on my haunches, and to watch where I was putting my paws. This time I wouldn't mess up. I continued stalking towards the mouse until I was practically on top of it; then I pounced, catching the mouse squarely between my paws. Unfortunately, my claws were sheathed, and the mouse wriggled beneath my grip. I bent down and bit the mouse's neck, as Cinderheart had shown me. I heard a sharp snap and the mouse went limp.

"Great catch!" Cinderheart meowed, "Remember to keep your claws out when you pounce though, its hard to keep a grip if you just jump on your prey bare-pawed."

"Uh, thanks, I'll keep that in mind." I meowed. I wasn't about to tell Cinderheart that I didn't know how to unsheathe my claws; that would require a bit of explanation that I wasn't prepared to give. I held up one of my paws, and tried to slide my claws out. For a moment I thought I had it, but my claws immediately slid back into my paw when I averted my attention. I shrugged, figuring that my claws would come out instinctively if I really needed them. After all, I had had no trouble with my claws yesterday when I was fighting the fox.

"Come on," Cinderheart meowed, jolting me out of my thoughts "let's go dig up the other mouse and we can eat." We padded back to where Cinderheart had caught her mouse earlier, and when we had eaten we resumed our journey to twolegplace. It wasn't long before we reached the WindClan border. "Are you sure about this?" Cinderheart meowed uneasily, hesitating at the stream.

"Will you please stop asking that?" I meowed, "Of course I'm sure."

"Okay," Cinderheart replied, still sounding uneasy "let's go." With that, Cinderheart and I crossed the stream that marked the border with WindClan, and together we continued on through their territory on towards twolegplace.

At first the journey through WindClan territory was uneventful. I had wanted to go straight through WindClan territory to twolegplace, but Cinderheart insisted on staying close to the lake. She had told me we would be trespassing if we strayed further than two 'fox-lengths' from the lake, but I still thought we were just wasting time. We were nearly out of WindClan territory when I noticed a group of cats ahead.

"Get down!" Cinderheart hissed, pushing me to the ground.

"What is it?" I asked warily.

"A WindClan patrol." Cinderheart answered.

"Oh." I meowed "So why are we hiding?"

"We're on their territory." Cinderheart explained.

"Yes, but we're close to the lake, we're not trespassing."

"Maybe so, but WindClan might not see it that way." Cinderheart replied, "If they find us they'll want to know what we're up to, and I don't want to have to make up excuses for why there are ThunderClan cats on WindClan territory."

I guess I couldn't argue with that, but it still seemed stupid for us to have to hide. We waited a while, staying hidden behind the tall grass, until Cinderheart decided to check if the patrol was gone. She slowly got to her paws, peering over the grass, and then she ducked quickly back down and turned to me.

"Go! They're coming!" She mewed urgently, shoving me backwards. I turned to run, but it was too late; the WindClan cats had already noticed us. One of them let out a yowl, and the whole patrol charged towards us. I hesitated, wondering if I should try to out-run them, but Cinderheart simply sat down and waited for it to reach us. Sighing, I sat down beside her. I felt a bit frustrated that we had been discovered, but there wasn't a whole lot I could do about that now.

The patrol quickly reached us and slowed to a halt. The leader of the patrol, a gray she-cat, stalked up to us threateningly. "What are you doing on WindClan territory?" she challenged.

"We're just passing through." Cinderheart replied calmly.

"Sure you are." A dark tom scoffed.

The gray she-cat gave the tom a hard look, but said nothing. Turning back to us, she questioned, "Where are you going then?"

Cinderheart hesitated a moment before answering "We- we have some business in RiverClan."

"May I ask what that is?" The gray cat pressed.

"No, you may not." I hissed in annoyance. These cats were starting to get on my nerves, which were already at their breaking point as it was.

"Zach!" Cinderheart meowed sharply, turning to me.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Zach…" The gray she-cat meowed curiously. "That's not a clan name. Is Firestar taking in another kittypet?"

"No he is not." Cinderheart meowed impatiently. "Now if you don't mind, we need to be on our way."

The dark tom who had spoken earlier took a step forward, bristling. "You still haven't told us what you're doing on our territory."

"Perhaps you weren't listening," I hissed, turning on the stubborn tom "we said, we're just passing through!"

The tom growled and crouched down to spring on me.

"Enough!" The gray cat's yowl pierced the air. Turning to us, she meowed "We will escort you to the RiverClan border."

The dark tom snorted, "Well we'd best get moving then, we haven't got all day."

The WindClan patrol formed a semi-circle around us and we set off towards the WindClan border. The dark tom hissed threateningly behind us, but I tired my best to ignore him. It wasn't long before we reached the RiverClan border. The WindClan cats left us there, watching suspiciously as we padded into RiverClan territory. As soon as we were out of sight, Cinderheart and I made a dash for the edge of clan territory. As we charged across the swampy marshlands I heard an alarmed yowl from behind us. We had been spotted! This time though, Cinderheart did not slow down. Instead she ran faster, charging tearing across the marshlands towards the border. I found it hard to keep up with her, but I knew we could not stop now. I glanced briefly behind me, but I did not see the patrol. _That's good._ I thought _Maybe we're loosing them._ We paused briefly at a country road before charging across. Thankfully there were no cars coming, and we made it to the other side without a problem. As soon as we were clear of the road we flattened ourselves to the ground, hoping the patrol wouldn't see us. We waited in silence for a long moment. I strained my ears, listening for the patrol, but I could only hear the sound of birds chirping and passing cars.

Finally, Cinderheart broke the silence. "I think they've gone."

"Maybe," I replied "but I wouldn't count on it. We'd better get moving in case they realize where we've gone." I got to my feet, and began walking away from the road. I glanced back to see that Cinderheart had not moved, and was staring back towards the RiverClan border.

"What is it?" I asked, padding back to her.

"Nothing." Cinderheart replied. "It's just… I've never been this far from home before."

I sat down next to her. "Don't worry, we'll be back."

Cinderheart looked at me and sighed. "I know, but twolegplace seems so far away."

I paused a moment before answering. "Let's go." I meowed "The sooner we leave, the sooner we can come back."

"You're right." Cinderheart meowed, sounding more like herself. "We'd better be on our way." Cinderheart got to her paws, and lead the way across the territory in front of us towards town.

We journeyed for hours across grassy fields with the hot sun on our pelts. I had wanted to follow the road to town, but Cinderheart insisted that we take a more direct route. The grasslands seemed to stretch on forever, and when we finally stopped to rest the sun was low in the sky.

"Why don't we stop here for the night." I suggested. "My paws feel like they are about to fall off."

"Okay," Cinderheart responded, "we should hunt first though. Twolegplace is still far away, we need to keep our strength up."

My stomach growled loudly in agreement. Walking all day had certainly given me an appetite. Cinderheart paused momentarily to sniff the air, and then dropped into a crouch and began stalking through the grass. I followed, trying my best to copy Cinderheart's posture. We crept slowly through the field until suddenly Cinderheart suddenly froze. A giant rabbit, easily large enough to feed both of us, was feeding on the long grass directly in front of us.

I probably should have waited for Cinderheart to make the catch, but I was too hungry to think straight. I charged straight at the rabbit and sprang at it with a flying leap. Unfortunately I underestimated the strength behind my jump, and overshot my target by a mile. Surprised, the rabbit dashed away from me. Luckily, that was right where Cinderheart was hiding. She easily caught the rabbit, and killed it with a swift bite to the neck.

"Nice catch!" I meowed, trying to hide my embarrassment at how I had nearly cost us our meal.

"Thanks!" Cinderheart replied. "And don't worry," she added, "you'll get better with a little practice."

"Thanks," I meowed, still feeling a little embarrassed "that was really stupid of me though."

"Hey, we caught it didn't we?" Cinderheart pointed out. "Now if you're finished feeling sorry for yourself," she added good naturedly, "we can eat."

I smiled to myself and sat down. Cinderheart was right, I was taking this whole journey far too seriously. I may not have been used to the hardships I would have to face as a cat, but things could be a lot worse. For a moment I wondered why I had gotten myself so worked up over the forest's possible destruction in the first place. After all, I had only just met these cats a few weeks ago. But then again, they HAD saved my life, and in such a short time I had really come to like this group of cats. Yes, these cats were my friends, and I would do whatever it took to prevent myself from being responsible for the destruction of their home.

The rabbit was delicious. It still felt strange to be eating raw meat, but I was starting to become accustomed to eating as a cat. As I ate the rabbit it I could feel my strength returning; we could still walk a while longer before the sun set. As I sat next to Cinderheart, chewing small bites of rabbit, I gazed out over the fields in front of us. The grasslands stretched on for as far as I could see. In the fields nearby, some shepherds were herding a group of sheep across the grasslands. I realized that despite how far we had already come, there was still a long way to go.

I stared out across the fields for a while longer, until something caught my eye. One of the sheepdogs, which had been herding the nearby group of sheep, had broken away from the group and was running straight towards us, barking like mad. I was about to yell at the dog to go home, but then I remembered that I was a cat and decided that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Just then, Cinderheart heard the dog's approach and looked up in alarm.

"RUN!" She yowled, dashing away. I charged after Cinderheart, trying my best to keep pace with her. I knew the danger wasn't immediate, the dog was still some distance away, but I guessed it was better safe than sorry.

Cinderheart rushed quickly for a nearby tree and scrambled to the top. A moment later I skidded to a halt at the tree's base, looking up at her.

"Come on!" She yowled urgently. I jumped at the tree, trying to climb to the lowest branch, but my paws did not grip the trunk and I immediately slid back down to the ground.

"Use your claws!" Cinderheart yowled. I stared up at her in dismay. Up to now I hadn't been able to unsheathe my claws at will, but I guessed there was a first time for anything. I held up a paw, trying to find the muscles that worked my claws. By this time the barking was getting louder, I heard one of the shepherds shouting at the dog to come back, but the dog seemed to take no notice.

"What are you waiting for?" Cinderheart mewed in dismay, "Just use your claws!"

"I can't!" I hissed in frustration.

Just then the dog came charging over the crest of a nearby hill. For the first time I got a good look at it. The dog was a light, golden collie with long fur and a long tail. It didn't look like it was trying to be aggressive. Its tail was wagging and its tong was lolling in the wind. But whether it meant to harm me or not, the sight of a dog three times your size charging straight for you is enough to scare the living daylights out of pretty much anyone.

The fur on the back of my neck stood straight up, and I made a final, desperate attempt to scramble up the tree. Surprisingly, I had no trouble this time. I was already half way up the tree before I realized that my claws were unsheathed. I quickly scrambled up to the nearest branch and perched myself beside Cinderheart.

The dog ran up beside the tree and starred up at us, barking like mad, but I knew it couldn't reach us. From up in the tree I could see one of the shepherds sprinting towards the dog. He was a tall man, probably in his early 40's, with dark hair and a goatee.

"Biscuit! Come back here!" He shouted at the dog. The dog stopped barking and turned towards its owner.

"Go on!" I yowled at the dog. That was obviously a mistake. The dog turned back to us and started barking again, jumping at the tree.

"Biscuit!" The man yelled angrily "Come here!" The dog whined, and walked reluctantly back to it's owner. The man glanced up at us briefly before grabbing the dog by the collar and dragging it away.

"Come on Biscuit." he said "Stop chasing stupid cats, we have work to do." I felt a little offended at being called stupid, but I guess the man didn't know any better. After all, I might have said the same thing myself only a few days ago.

As the dog disappeared over the crest of a hill, Cinderheart looked at me.

"You can't unsheathe your claws?" She meowed disbelievingly. I felt my face grow hot with embarrassment.

"No," I admitted, shifting uncomfortably on the branch. "I don't really… know how."

"You don't know how?" Cinderheart echoed.

"No." I replied, "I… I guess I never really had to use them until just a few days ago."

"Yes, but… every cat knows how to use their claws!" Cinderheart looked a bit bewildered.

I was about to shoot back "Well I'm not a cat." But then I remembered what happened last time I had said something like that. So instead I simply meowed "Well I don't."

Cinderheart paused a moment, looking bewildered. Finally, she meowed "Well, how did you get up here then?"

"I… I don't know, I guess it was just instinct."

Cinderheart nodded. "The dog frightened you and your claws came out."

"Yeah, that was it." I responded.

Cinderheart paused a moment, lost in thought. "Here, let me see one of your paws." she meowed after a moment. I held up one of my forepaws for her to see. Cinderheart examined it carefully. "Try to unsheathe you claws." She mewed.

I tensed my muscles, trying to slide my claws out. But just as before, nothing happened.

"Hmm." Cinderheart meowed, looking a bit confused. She flexed her claws thoughtfully for a moment, and then turned back to me. "Think about what you did when the dog got close. How did you get your claws out then?"

"I told you," I replied "it was just instinct."

"But you had to have done something." Cinderheart pressed "You just need to remember."

I thought back to the moment the dog had charged at me from over the hill. I concentrated hard, forcing myself to remember every detail of the scene. I recalled the golden collie, with its long tail and sharp teeth, and I remembered my sudden terror at the thought of getting mauled by the dog. I remembered my fur standing up, and yes, my claws sliding out!

Holding the image in my mind, I tried once again to find the muscles that worked my claws. For a moment, I was unsuccessful. But then, something clicked and my claws slid out of my paws.

"There!" Cinderheart meowed, "See? It isn't that hard."

I held my claws out a moment longer, hoping that I would remember how to use them again if I had to. It felt strange to be using a muscle I had never had before, almost like when I had first realized I had a tail. This felt slightly different though. While using my tail had seemed almost natural, like having another limb, this felt awkward, like something entirely new. I stared at my claws a while longer, flexing them in and out in fascination.

"We'd better get going." Cinderheart mewed, jolting me out of my thoughts. "We still have a long ways to go."

"Right." I replied, putting my claws away. "We can still get a bit further before sunset."

Cinderheart nodded and leapt down from the tree, starting off in the direction we had been traveling before. I hesitated a moment on the edge of the branch. It seemed like a long jump down. But then again, I was smaller. In reality I was probably only five feet off the ground, but it seemed like a lot further.

"Zach, are you coming?" Cinderheart looked back up at me questioningly.

I gritted my teeth and jumped. _Cats always land on their feet._ Fortunately for me, the old saying must have been true. Instinct took over, and I landed solidly on my feet next to Cinderheart. As we set off once again towards town, I reflected that I still had a lot to learn about being a cat.


End file.
